Fortune Favours the Brave

Sponsored by Recognition PR and hosted by BBC journalist and presenter Charlie Charlton, Fortune Favours the Brave is your chance to hear from inspirational speakers who are both leading and doing great things to grow dynamic businesses.

Focusing on how being brave and staying true to your beliefs can bring huge benefits to your company, our Global Entrepreneurship Week conference promises to be an inspirational day and a great chance to catch up with over 200 of your fellow North East entrepreneurs.

Fortune Favours the Brave is very much about getting under the skin of those who take chances and finding out what happens when you do – because it’s only when you step out of your comfort zone or are faced with a seemingly ‘make or break’ moment that you’re really tested.

GUEST SPEAKERS INCLUDE:

BOB KEILLER, AB15: Bob does business properly. He treats people well, is open and honest, shows respect but holds staff accountable for delivery. Its building businesses with these strong core values and a positive culture that has defined his career, which includes completing the management buyout of PSN from Halliburton in 2006, scaling and selling PSN to Wood Group in 2011, then leading Wood Group's operations in more than 50 countries. Former chairman of the Entrepreneurial Exchange, Scottish Male Business Leader of the Year, Entrepreneur of the Year, Grampian Industrialist of the Year, TEDx speaker, CBE holder and current chairman of Scottish Enterprise; the list of Bob’s achievements goes on and on.

CHRIS HULATT, Octopus Group Starting Octopus from his living room in 2000, Chris and co-founder Simon Rogerson have built a group that now ties together six distinct businesses: Octopus Investments, Octopus Healthcare, Octopus Energy, Octopus Ventures, Octopus Property and Octopus Labs. Excelling at seeing new opportunities and borne out of a determination to breathe new life into industries that were failing their customers, Octopus aims to have an enormous impact on the things that really matter to us all, with one purpose - the relentless pursuit of 'better'. Chris was named EY UK Entrepreneur of the Year in 2017.

TAMARA ROBERTS, Ridgeview: The second generation to lead the family business, Tamara has overseen Ridgeview’s growth in production of English sparkling wine to nearly 300,000 bottles each year, with plans to double this over the next three years. Nestled in the beautiful South Downs, Ridgeview has celebrated some amazing accomplishments in their relatively short history, culminating in the trophy for ‘Best Sparkling Wine in the World, Decanter 2010’. They export to 12 countries around the world, including the USA, Scandinavia and Japan, and are proudly served at Buckingham Palace State Banquets and No. 10 Downing Street.

MARK INGLIS, Adventurer & Entrepreneur: Mark truly defines the saying: “attitude determines your altitude”. Between losing his legs at 23 years and going on to be the only double amputee to ever stand on the ‘roof of the world’, the summit of Mount Everest, Mark has carved out careers as a scientist, a world recognised winemaker, business innovator, a medallist at the Paralympics, trekking guide, philanthropist and a leading international motivator. He is the ultimate mix of experience and inspiration.

BEN HOUCHEN, Mayor of Tees Valley: Elected as Mayor of the Tees Valley in May 2017, Ben is building a strong local economy that provides good quality jobs, underpinned by an even stronger private sector. To support business growth Ben chairs the South Tees Development Corporation, which is redeveloping the former SSI steelworks site in Redcar. He is creating a multi-million-pound Access to Finance Fund to provide capital investment for small and medium-sized businesses and is championing the area as a leader in innovative industrial technologies such as Carbon Capture and Storage, and hydrogen trains.

FUNDING STRATEGIES FOR GROWTH: hosted by Graham Robb, founder of Recognition PR, our panel of entrepreneurs will be sharing the experience of scaling-up their business while utilising different funding strategies. The panel includes KEVIN BROWN (Pacifica Group),ROB MATHIESON (Ion Industries) and NIGEL MILLS (The Lakes Distillery).

Conference sponsors include Recognition PR and Tees Valley Combined Authority.

The Small PrintUnfortunately, we are not able to reimburse this cost if your place is cancelled after Friday 2nd November.